Tech Update: Conversational Banking, E-Payments & Business Lending

Financial technology announcements, potentially directly and indirectly affecting credit unions, includes a new CUSO/fintech partnership, new behavioral authentication capabilities, a strategic partnership accounts receivable e-payments, and new small business lending avenues.

A partnership between Tulsa, Okla.-based fintech company ENACOMM and Tallahassee, Fla.-based CUSO United Solutions Company hopes to allow credit unions to roll out new apps and other tech faster.

With the reseller agreement, conversational voice banking and intelligent IVR from ENACOMM, whose tech empowers credit unions, banks and credit card companies, will become available to USC’s some 70 credit union customers. ENACOMM’s hosted, IVR system for personalized and intelligent customer interactions is part of the ENACOMM Financial Suite. Its Virtual Personal Assistant is ENACOMM’s conversational voice banking solution for financial institutions’ self-service users that utilizes artificial intelligence and works with popular digital voice assistants, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Using ENACOMM’s hosted systems, a properly authenticated user can confidently conduct secure banking transactions and gain virtually full access to their financial accounts—with the sound of their voice.

“USC’s number one goal is to help our customers stay competitive and profitable amidst today’s technology race,” Jim Giacobbe, President and CEO of United Solutions Company said. “Our customers will see immediate benefits from ENACOMM’s intelligent IVR technology, and with the continuing climb in adoption of voice assistants among consumers, conversational voice banking will soon play a key role in the customer service strategies of leading credit unions, as well.”

“Consumers are becoming accustomed to the convenience of digital voice assistants, and the level of security now available via voice biometrics is amping up receptivity to conversational banking,” Michael Boukadakis, CEO of ENACOMM commented. “Today, smart speakers and smartphones are the vehicles for conversational voice banking, but in the near future, voice banking will become ubiquitous by riding on the Internet of Things.”

San Francisco based behavioral authentication company BehavioSec announced its latest platform update (version 5.1) to its Behavioral Biometrics Platform, which helps financial services, fintech, retail, and other customers defeat attacks utilizing stolen passwords and other weaponized online credentials.

New account fraud detection, Improved accuracy with an anomaly detection module and enhanced mouse recognition are features of this latest update, designed to increase speed, recognition, and performance to help companies quickly adapt to, and remain compliant with, preexisting and proposed data protection and privacy mandates while improving the user experience.

“More than exotic malware or devious actors, countless breach headlines and investigative data constantly remind us that the most dangerous threat propelling cybercrime is attackers’ weaponizing the reuse of weak or stolen passwords at Internet scale,” BehavioSec’s Jordan Blake said. “BehavioSec breaks the credential compromise breach cycle by continuously authenticating users upon login, according to unique behavioral biometrics attributes such as typing patterns, touchscreen pressure and device handling. These innately human nuances aren’t for sale on the dark web or easily mimicked by malware, negating attackers’ most comfortable advantages.”

Charlotte, N.C based AvidXchange announced a strategic partnership with SAP Concur allowing Concur Invoice customers to process electronic payments through the AvidPay Network of 500,000-plus suppliers. With AvidXchange’s payments proficiency, Concur Invoice customers can offer multiple payment options to vendors, including a virtual credit card; and AvidPay Direct, a proprietary ACH+ product leveraging ACH with enhanced information, along with several other forms of e-payment settlement methods. Access to the AvidXchange integration will be available via the SAP Concur App Center.

This partnership also gives Concur Invoice customers access to AvidXchange Supplier Services, including a team of more than 300 AvidXchange employees focused on helping vendors transition to e-payments while ensuring payments are timely and accurate.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve built the strongest supplier network for the midmarket, supported by an industry leading payment services team,” Michael Praeger, CEO and co-founder of AvidXchange said. “We’re excited to bring the AvidPay Network to Concur Invoice customers across the United States to help them streamline and optimize how they pay their vendors.”

“SAP Concur is committed to enabling customers to have choices that enable strategic financial management with industry-leading applications via partners. The AvidXchange integration allows customers to manage the full invoice and payments process,” Ben Brewer, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global SMB at SAP Concur said. “By building this relationship with AvidXchange, we’re allowing businesses who already trust our technology to tap into the AvidPay Network, creating additional value from their existing SAP Concur solutions.”

Sherman Oaks, Calif-based SecurCapital Corp, a supply chain and financial services provider, announced the acquisition of the lending business of McLean, Virginia fintech company and small business lender Breakout Capital Finance. SecurCapital will also providing additional equity capital to drive growth in Breakout Capital Finance’s two primary lending products: its term-loan product and its FactorAdvantage lending solution for small businesses. The acquired lending business assets will operate as a subsidiary of SecurCapital conducting business as Breakout Capital.

Steve Russell, CEO of SecurCapital commented, “We’re delighted to have found a highly respected team and innovative business model in the small business finance space. I share the founder’s vision of the massive potential of the FactorAdvantage lending solution and believe we now have the platform and capital to rapidly grow this industry-changing product.”

Breakout Capital Finance’s founder, Carl Fairbank added, “This transaction begins the next chapter of Breakout Capital’s lending business. SecurCapital is also committed to the proliferation of best practices to drive change in the broader market. I believe Breakout Capital, in partnership with SecurCapital, is now well positioned for substantial growth, especially with its commitment to FactorAdvantage.”